The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-05-05
HOLY MIRA Militia"
Philadelpfia's Strange Sect Whose
Deity Was a Woman.
L. l. = = 4.


Deity Was a Woman
4 Philadelphia dispatch 20 the New York
Herald says:
Woman worshipers!
Yes
Legal proceedings commenced yesterday
il this city recall the remarkable sect Of
woman worshIpeI'S that existed in this city
for over q quarter of a century.
! In brief, suit has been begun against Meta
| Meister and other hcirs of the late Anna
Meister, the founder of the remarkable re-
| ligious sect known as the Ellnlar Mira Militia
Congregation of the Lord.
| This congregation was formed in 1855,
and had various meeting places, where
| they listened TO the instructions of the
| founder
| Anna Meister to purchase suitable property
for their use. She bought the house No. l12S
South Eleventh street and the title was
made out in her own name.
Anna Meister died in January, 1884, I'M
married and intestate, and the property
passed into the hands of her sisters, Meta
Meister and Salome Bletman, and other re-
latives
The plaintiffs in the case claim to have
contributed the amounts stated toward the
purchase of the property in dispute: Philip
Becker, S2,475; Christine Becker SIS; Jacob
Endress, $500; Lisette Munzert, 1000;
August Wcnner, $500: Caroline Lang, 500;
Julia huffman, $3.50. The bill asks the
court to compel the defendant to convey the
property to them, claiming that Anna Meis-
ter purchased it as their agent
The congregation applied for charter in
1885, but the application was refused by
Judges PIERCE and Biddle.
CURIOUS DOCTRINE.
The following strange features of the
faith were published during the argu-
ment
Meta Meister, a sister of Anna Meister,
declared that Anna had often asserted that
she was the Holy Ghost, the third person of
the Trinity, and should be worshiped ac-
cordingly. Anna, as said, denounced the
marriage relation, and thought that hus-
and sister.
A picture in Anna Meister's house repre-
sented her as the Holy Ghost.
Mary Rapp, one of the congregation, testi-
fled to the fact that Anna Meister required
the members to worship her as God.
They prayed to her, saying:
I'VE come to thee, Holy Spirit; we come
to thee, Holy Mira Militia; forgive us our
sins" Mira professed to have the power to
forgive sins as the third person of the God
head. Her adherents would PROSTATE them
selves before her and worship her
On festival occasions-the greatest of
which was her birthday-Mira Militia, it
was shown, would array herself in red
velvet gown or one of white silk, embroid-
cred with the sun, moon and stars, and put
on crown studded with precious stones,
said to be diamonds.
A PECULIAR PEOPLE.
She used water, wine and bread in her
communion service. She rejected the Bible
and required her followers to say prayers at
5, SO, IL and ~ a. M, and 3, 5 and 9 p. m
They were Obliged to confess their omissions
to pray, and she would then scold and berate
them, sometimes striking them with her
hand or book. In return for these punish
ments the people would thank the woman and
declare that she had whipped the sins out of
them. Those who obeyed her teachings were
told that they would never die; that the
world would come to an end in 1885, but
that her followers would survive under
new dispensation.
The congregation, it is said, believed her
to be immortal. One room of her house con
tanned bedStead and bureau which she de-
clared were reserved for the Saviour, whose
bride she professed to be- Mira also
preached that there was a wayof peopling
the earth known onlyNto khefA as one of
the Trinity, and that their ability in this
direction depended upon theifT faith in her
power. ff ryeW 1sEj
For twenty-five years this strange woman
taught her peculiar doctFfne tothe people
who followed her yLBmSOd
Several of the congregation were wealthy
and no expense was spared in flttihg up the
building in which the services were held
She exercised unlimited sway over her con-
gregation. At her death they worshiped
her as a saint
The application for the charter was OPP
posed by the relatives of the eccentric woman
and by the General Council of the Evangeli-
cal Lutheran Church